Games Without Frontiers
by Sparky Young Upstart
Summary: Hoping to win Marley back, Jake buys her an intriguing board game for her birthday. When the two of them, Ryder, and Unique begin playing they soon discover the dangers lying within, and that this is no ordinary game. Now they must do what countless others have done before them - finish the game. Easier said than done.
1. Welcome to the Jungle

Marley likes board games.

Jake can remember a million different things about her, but as soon as he sees the hobby shop down the street that one little snippet about his girlfriend - _ex_-girlfriend - pops right back into his head and drives him to head in that direction. Her birthday is coming up soon, and even though she told him not to get her anything he can't help it. Even after everything that had gone down between the two of them, after his fling with Bree and Marley's attempt to rebound with Ryder, more shouting and fights than Jake cares to remember and the two of them nearly being abandoned by the rest of the club because nobody wanting to pick sides, Jake can't help but keep on loving her.

So he'll get her a present. Not something big and obnoxious that would make her feel smothered, no, it had to be a small token that would show that he cared about her. He opened the door of the shop and was greeted by stacks upon stacks of games, old and new. Some of them he remembered seeing briefly in commercials as a child. Some of them where plain cardboard and plastic, and others had as many bells and whistles and moving parts as a video game. Jake smiled - there had to be something in this place that would catch Marley's interest.

Jake waved at the old man behind the counter, but the shopkeeper didn't look up from his paper. The boy figured he could find his way around on his own. Thumping tribal music was drifting into his ears. The old dude must have an odd taste in music, Jake thought as he perused the games. A few of them caught his eye, but nothing really popped they way he wanted them too. Pandemic, Mouse Trap, a variant of Clue using historical figures - they all seemed uninspired. Or maybe Jake was just paranoid that he would pick wrong and loose one of his last chances to win Marley back.

The drumming kept on going, and it seemed to be getting louder. "Hey, could you turn the music down dude?" he called to the shopkeeper. The man looked up and scowled at Jake.

"Turn it down yourself, punk!" the man called back, before turning back to his reading and muttering something about the damn kids these days with their loud music and macpads and boomtubes. Jake didn't know what the man was saying, but he looked around and realized that there weren't any visible speakers in the store. The drumming must just be his imagination. Either that, or it was coming from one of the games that somehow got turned on.

Jake followed the noise, which got louder as he moved towards the corner of the store. The shelves got less and less organized as he moved past them, until he found a pile that was laying in total disarray. A single sign read "miscellaneous", and it certainly looked that way. There wasn't a single unifying factor between any of the games piled there except for the fact that they clearly weren't valuable enough to display prominently. Still, the drumming was definitely coming from this pile. Jake kneeled down and began moving boxes out of the way. Each action made the beats louder and louder, like the game was calling to him. Which was totally ridiculous, but then again he _had_ spent who knows how long breathing in a gas leak at school. Brain damage wouldn't surprise him at this point.

Jake felt his hands brush against something a good bit more solid than the cardboard boxes he'd been expecting, and the drums stopped. Jake frowned and grabbed the box, pulling out out from the pile. It was made of solid wood, and the front was expertly carved to show a jungle scene. Images of a monkey, a rhino, an elephant, and a safari explorer where carved into each corner. A single word appeared in the centre of the box: "Jumanji".

The game looked old. Ludicrously old. Hell, it practically looked like an antique. Jake looked at the back, but there wasn't anything written. He opened it up to see if there where any rules. The top unfolded to the sides, revealing a game board with twisting and turning paths all leading towards a glass circle in the center. Given the apparent age of the game it was a wonder that it hadn't been cracked. In the corner were four pieces made to look like animals - a rhino, a crocodile a monkey, and an elephant - and a pair of dice. On the sides were the game instructions. Jake whispered them to himself as he read them.

"Jumanji: a game for those who wish to find a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token, doubles get another turn, and the first one to reach the end wins. Adventurers beware: do not start until you intend to finish. The exciting consequences of the game will vanish only when a player has reached Jumanji and called out its name. Huh." Jake smirked at the rhymes shoehorned into the directions. This was definitely interesting. Marley would surely get a kick out of it. Hopefully.

He picked up the box - it was kinda heavy, but he managed - and carried it over to the old man's counter, dropping it on top with a loud thud. The shopkeeper jumped at the noise and looked over at Jake. "How much for this?" the boy asked. The man reached out and examined the game.

"Hmm…doesn't look like there's a price tag on it. However, I can give it to you for the price of, let's say, fifty dollars."

Jake glared at the man in disbelief. "Fifty? Really? For a board game? This thing is like, twenty bucks or lower."

The man held the game up. "Ah, but this is clearly no ordinary game. Can't you see how it was painstakingly hand-crafted from the finest wood available?" Jake continued to give the old man a look, and eventually he resented. "Fine. Thirty five. Plus tax."

Jake sighed. Thirty five (and them some) was a pretty steep price, especially since Jake wasn't exactly overflowing with cash. Still, it was for Marley…"Alright, I'll take it." Jake handed over the money and walked out with the game under his arm. In the back of his mind he could still hear the drums.


	2. Tumbling Dice

Jake's heart was pounding as he walked up the steps to the Rose's small home. He had been there before several times, but that was back when he and Marley were definitely a thing. Now Jake wasn't entirely sure what they were, but they certainly weren't together.

He had wrapped the game in bright purple paper, with a big blue ribbon on the front. It looked cheerful. Not romantic - friendly. He wasn't going to get anywhere trying to seduce Marley, he had to start at square one. The game was heavy under his arm and the drums were still playing in his head. Jake figured there was some kind of speaker or something inside the game that hadn't been turned off in a while, and couldn't find the switch. He was amazed that it was still working after all these years.

Jake took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. He heard a few voices and then footsteps coming towards the door, and then it opened to reveal -

"Ryder?" Jake asked with a raised eyebrow. The other boy stood in the doorway looking just as confused as Jake was.

"Hey, Jake. I, uh, didn't realize you were invited to the party." He pursed his lips and stared ahead awkwardly, not sure whether to let Marley's ex into the house or not. Jake looked past him, trying to spot the birthday girl inside. It seemed pretty barren in there, to be honest. There was a single streamer that said "Happy Birthday Marley", some bowls of punch and chips, and _Tangled_ playing on the television. In the distance he could hear Marley and Unique's voices, but nobody else's.

"Um, I'm not sure if I was either. I was kind of hoping that she might let me in anyways?" Jake tried to smile, but it seemed forced.

Marley emerged from the kitchen holding a birthday cake. "Okay, who wants - Jake?" His name came out small and confused. Unique was right behind her and when she saw Marley's face she immediately took the cake out of her hands.

"I'm gonna take this so it doesn't get hurt."

Marley barely noticed. Instead she walked to the front door, Ryder moving aside to let her past, and crossed her arms while looking at Jake. "What are you doing here?"

Jake smiled again. "Happy Birth0"

"I didn't invite you for a reason, Jake."

Jake sighed. "I know, I know, I just…I couldn't help but get you something today. I just wanted to drop it off, at least." He held out the package. Marley looked on it with derision. She didn't want to kick him off her property, that wouldn't be nice - but then again, being nice to him was what got her into this whole mess in the first place. She should just tell him to go away, after all the emotional trauma he'd put her through. But now she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him all day, whether he left or not. A part of her wanted to let him in, not just to her house but her life. Finally she decided that if something went wrong, she still had Unique and Ryder there to back her up.

"Fine, come on in." She took the package from him as he entered. "This better not be chocolates."

Marley put the gift on the table. Unique walked up to her. "Honey, I know you've still got a connection with that boy but you don't need to feel like you owe him anything by letting him in."

Marley shook her head. "It's not like that," even though part of it was, "I just figured, you know, the more the merrier." Her gaze moved to her living room, which wasn't nearly as filled with people as she had hoped. Ever since she and Jake had broken up a lot of the other glee people had drifted away from the two of them. She had invited the whole club to her party, but only Ryder and Unique accepted. Well, and Jake.

Unique patted her on the shoulder. "Alright, well just know that if you think he's gotta go then me and Ryder will be perfectly willing to kick him out for you."

Marley smiled. "Thanks Unique."

Jake was standing next to the table, grinning. When Marley approached him, his smile grew. "Open it up!" he said.

Marley sighed and began tearing open the paper surrounding the box. Inside she found a large wooden box, and she thought there was something on the inside until she turned it over and saw the word "Jumanji" written in large print on it. She ran her hand over the front of it with awe. She still wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it looked gorgeous either way. She found the seems and pulled the box open so that the contents were exposed. Ryder and Unique came over to the table.

"What is it?" Ryder asked.

"A board game," replied Marley. Her attention was almost entirely focused on the game. She pulled out each piece and examined it. Her memories came flooding back to her and her mom playing board games when she was little. They were old things like Sorry and Monopoly, and sometimes even Chess. They would play them in the dark with only a few candles lighting them up, because the power would usually be out after they were unable to pay the electric bill. Then she remembered telling Jake about those times once when they were still together. _He remembered_, she thought, _after all this time he remembered_. Then she kicked herself for not realizing until now that this was probably supposed to be some kind of romantic gesture.

"I was hoping we could play it?" Jake said in a hopeful tone. Marley set her lips in a line, thinking. Obviously he was hoping that playing the game would somehow rekindle her attraction to him. Then again, what harm ever really came from a playing a boar game?

"If we are playing, then I call elephant," said Ryder, picking up said piece and sticking it onto the board. Nobody noticed it turn slightly so that it was facing straight down it's pathway.

"Why the elephant?" asked Unique.

"Favourite animal," he replied. "Ever since I was little." He smiled, and she smiled back.

"Okay, then I'll be the gator." Unique stuck that piece in a spot as well. Marley turned to Jake.

"What about you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, you're the birthday girl. You go first."

Marley smirked. Of course he would let her pick. "Okay, I'll be the monkey."

"And leaves me with the rhino." Jake stuck his piece in place.

"So how do we play this game anyways?" Ryder asked. "Did it come with instructions?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah, written in the corners. Here." He twisted the board so the other three could see what he'd read before. "You roll the dice to move your token, doubles get another turn, and the first one to reach the end wins."

Unique leaned forward to see the board more clearly. "'Do not begin unless you intend to finish'. What's the supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just encouragement to not abandon the game in the middle of playing. I mean, what's the point if you're not going to the end?"

Marley picked up the dice. "Okay, who's going first? Or do I get the honour?" The others shared a glance and shrugged. Marley rolled her eyes. "Alright, guess that's a yes." She dropped the dice onto the table - a four and a five. She reached out to move her piece, but drew her hand back when the monkey began to slide across the table of its own accord.

All four of the teens' eyes widened in surprise as it slid down it's path nine spaces. "How is it doing that?" asked Marley. She looked at Jake, but he shook his head.

"Don't look at me, I just bought it thinking it looked fun."

"Maybe it's microchips?" suggested Ryder. Unique furrowed her brow.

"Really? This thing looks way too old for microchips."

"Then it's magnets or something, I don't know."

The piece slid to a stop, and then the glass centre of the board began to swirl with green smoke. Marley leaned forward to read what it said.

"'Their teeth are sharper than a knife / These hungry fish could take your life'." Marley grimaced. "Wow, that's morbid."

"Does it mean anything for the game?" asked Unique. "Or is it just trying to freak us out?"

Then they heard a loud crack come from the floor.


End file.
